Drive for bow sprit

ABSTRACT

A speed handle for use in combination with a strap winch on a flat bed trailer. The straps used to secure loads on trailers can be 30 to 40 feet in length. There is no good way to wind these straps onto their winch when they are not in use. Currently the job is done by hand which is very slow and tedious. The speed handle engages the lug of the winch and allows the strap to be wound back onto the winch very quickly. The speed handle allows the winding to occur with only one hand so that another hand is free to guide the strap onto the winch drum.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] In sail boating it is common practice to use a spinnaker polesuspended from the main mast of the boat to control the extension of asail. The spinnaker poles rotate freely about the mast, these requirewell trained crews to deploy and fly, not infrequently resulting inserious accidents involving sails, rigging and crew. Because of thesecomplications a few sailboats now come with an retractable pole or bowsprit, built into the hull of the boat. Currently extension poles ofthis type utilize a jack line. Extension of the pole from under the deckout the front of the boat is accomplished mechanically utilizing a jackline that loops over a front cleat and then back to a rope clutchlocated near the boat cockpit. As the pole is manually extended bypulling on the line, a bungee cord attached to the pole is stretched.When the jack line is released from the rope clutch, the bungee willretract the pole.

[0002] This method provides problems. Accidental release of the ropeclutch allows the pole to catapult back into the vessel causing it tocrash into the bulkhead. A further problem is that as the jack linepasses through the deck sheave from the interior to the exterior of thevessel, a water leak following the line will be produced. The bungeecord and jack line approach is also messy, requiring an additionalclutter of lines and rigging as well as additional labor to operate.

[0003] Thus it can be seen that there is a need for a safe, easilyoperated device for extending and retracting a bow sprit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present invention relates to a device to extend and retract apole (bow sprit) from the front of a boat. The present inventionprovides a method of automatically extending a pole, such as a bowsprit, from the deck of the boat. The device provides both a powered andmanual drive to both extend and retract a pole.

[0005] Further benefits of the current invention will become apparent inthe following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 shows a partial cross sectional view of the device asinstalled

[0007]FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the drive

[0008]FIG. 3 shows the bow sprit and nut assembly

[0009]FIG. 4 shows the bow sprit retracted

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVICE

[0010]FIG. 1 shows a partial cross sectional view of a boat 10 with theretractable bow sprit 20 installed. The boat includes a deck 12 andbulkheads 14, 16 and 18 below the deck 12. The bow sprit 20 includesrigging 22 used to connect the sprit 20 to a sail (Not shown). The boat10 also includes a receiver tube 28 that receives the bow sprit 20 andthat allows the sprit to slide as it is extended or retracted. Thereceiver tube 28 includes a bleed pipe 30 that will drain any water thatgets trapped in the receiver tube 28 back out of the boat 10, in thiscase through a chain locker 40 with a drain hole 42.

[0011]FIG. 1 also shows the bow sprit drive mechanism 50. The drive 50includes a driven lead screw 52 the rotation of which extends andretracts the bow sprit 20. FIG. 1 shows the bow sprit 20 in the extendedposition. When the lead screw 52 rotates a nut collar 56 is driven bythe threads of the lead screw 52. The nut collar 56 is attached to thebow sprit 20 so that it can be extended and retracted based on thetravel of the nut collar 56. The lead screw 52 can be rotationallymounted in pillow block bearing 58. The drive mechanism 50 can beelectric and can include an electric switch to trigger operation of thedrive 50 such as foot switch 54 mounted on the boat deck 12.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 2 the details of the drive 50 includes anelectric motor 100 which can drive the lead screw 52 through belt 102and pulley 104 all mounted on a housing 106. The pulley 104 is connectedto the lead screw 52 through a flexible joint 110 capable ofcompensating for slight misalignment between the pulley 104 and leadscrew 52. The drive 50 also includes a hand wheel 112 mounted on theexterior of bulkhead 18 where it can be easily accessible from theinterior of the boat 10. The hand wheel 112 can include a one way clutch114 that disengages it when it is not needed. It would also be possibleto remove the hand wheel when it is not needed. The motor 100 could alsouse a cog belt and gears or a chain drive to connect to the lead screw52.

[0013]FIG. 3 shows details of the bow sprit 20 including the nut collar56. The nut collar 56 includes a delron nut 74 clamped between two splithalves. Threaded holes 70 allow for attachment to the bow sprit 20. Inthe extended position of the bow sprit 20, the lead screw 52 justreaches into the nut 74. Aluminum tube section 62 provides a liner thatprevents the long lead screw 52 from whipstocking as it rotates or fromexcess vibration as the boat 10 moves. The tube 62 can include a plasticliner 62(a) that prevents the lead screw from creating noise when itcontacts the tube 62. Cap 76 closes off the bow sprit 20 and supportsthe end of tube 62.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 4, the boat 10 includes an exterior molding 60through which the bow sprit 20 passes from the interior to the exteriorof the boat 10. This view also shows the bow sprit 20 in its retractedposition. A partial cutaway shows the bow sprit 20 retracted back almostto the drive 50.

[0015] In operation with the bow sprit 20 retracted as shown in FIG. 4,rigging for a sail (not shown) can be attached to rigging 22. A signalcan then trigger the drive motor 50 to extend the bow sprit 20 to theposition shown in FIG. 1. The signal to trigger the drive motor 50 cancome from deck mounted foot switch 54 and/or remote controller (notshown). It would be desirable to primarily operate the bow sprit 20 fromon deck 12. Under certain conditions, such as loss of electrical power,it may be necessary to extend or retract the bow sprit 20 using themanual crank 112. Under certain conditions it may be possible for asmall amount of water to get into receiver tube 28, for example if thebow sprit 20 is wet when retracted. Under these conditions the water candrain back out through bleed pipe 30.

1. A bow sprit for use on a boat comprising; rigging on a first end ofsaid bow sprit for attachment of a line; said bow sprit having a firstposition wherein it is located within the boat and a second positionwhere the bow sprit is extended outside the boat; a drive mechanism usedto extend said bow sprit from said first position to said secondposition.
 2. The bow sprit of claim 1 wherein the drive mechanismincludes an electric drive motor.
 3. The bow sprit of claim 2 whereinthe drive mechanism includes a lead screw driven by said electric driveand a lead screw follower nut attached to said bow sprit.
 4. The bowsprit of claim 2 wherein the electric drive motor is triggered by a deckmounted foot operated switch.
 5. The bow sprit of claim 4 including awheel attached to said lead screw to allow said lead screw to bemanually driven.
 6. A bow sprit and boat combination comprising; riggingon a first end of said bow sprit for attachment of a line; said bowsprit having a first position wherein a portion of said bow sprit islocated within the boat and a second position where the portion of saidbow sprit is extended outside the boat; a drive mechanism used to extendsaid portion of said bow sprit from said first position to said secondposition.
 7. The bow sprit of claim 6 wherein the drive mechanismincludes an electric drive motor and an auxiliary hand crank.
 8. The bowsprit of claim 7 wherein the drive mechanism includes a lead screwdriven by said electric drive motor and a lead screw follower nutattached to said bow sprit wherein rotation of shaft of said electricdrive motor turns said lead screw to cause linear motion of said leadscrew follower nut and said bow sprit.
 9. A bow sprit and boatcombination comprising; a boat hull; a bow sprit having a first positionwherein a portion of said bow sprit is located within the boat hull anda second position where the portion of said bow sprit is extendedoutside the hull of said boat; an electric drive mechanism used toextend said portion of said bow sprit from said first position to saidsecond position.
 10. The bow sprit of claim 9 including an auxiliaryhand crank.
 11. The bow sprit of claim 9 a receiving tube passingthrough the hull of the boat and wherein the bow sprit is slidablymounted within the receiving tube.
 12. The bow sprit of claim 11 whereinreceiving tube includes a water bleed for bleeding off water trapped inthe receiving tube.